Lithium secondary batteries are widely used and can be found in laptop computers, cameras, camcorders, PDAs, cell phones, iPods and other portable electronic devices. These batteries are also growing in popularity for defense, automotive and aerospace applications because of their high energy density.
Lithium phosphate-based cathode materials for secondary battery have long been known in the battery industry. People have used metal intercalation compound to improve the electrical property of lithium phosphate. One popular intercalation compound is lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4). Because of its non-toxicity, thermal stability, safety characteristics and good electrochemical performance, there is a growing demand for rechargeable lithium secondary batteries with LiFePO4 as the cathode material.
The present invention teaches a better method of providing a cathode material using lithium metal phosphate salts and other metal intercalation compounds. The prior art methods can result in batteries with varying particle sizes and non-uniform distribution. These non-homogeneous cathode material particles can cause poor electrical properties in the batteries, especially when such requirements are necessary for batteries used in electric vehicles.
As such, there is a need for a better cathode material and method of manufacturing the same for lithium batteries with enhanced electrical performance.